Banns reception at the Royal Palace of Stockholm

During the afternoon of Sunday 19 May, Princess Madeleine and Mr Christopher O'Neill held a reception at the Royal Palace of Stockholm to celebrate the publishing of their banns of marriage.

Speaker Per Westerberg with his wife Ylwa Westerberg and Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt represented the Riksdag and the Swedish Government at the reception. The Riksdag and the Swedish Government jointly presented The Princess Couple with four candlesticks designed by Professor Sigurd Persson, a Swedish jeweller, industrial designer and sculptor. County Governor of Gävleborg County Barbro Holmberg congratulated the couple. Princess Madeleine is Duchess of Hälsingland and Gästrikland. The dean of the diplomatic corps, El Salvador's ambassador, also congratulated The Princess Couple, as did by the ambassadors from Finland, Iceland and the UK, and the Danish chargé d'affaires. Norway's ambassador attended the service at which the banns of marriage were published. The Princess Couple were then congratulated by Renée Lundholm, President of the Swedish-American Chamber of Commerce in New York, and her husband Lars Arne Lundholm. Congratulations were also expressed by Secretary General Hélène Benno and Eva Swartz Grimaldi from the My Big Day foundation, board member Carl Göran Adelswärd from Europa Nostra and Secretary General Anna De Geer and Ellika Mårtensson from the World Childhood Foundation. A private lunch was held in Princess Sibylla's Apartments before the reception.